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UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center Zena Werb, PhD, has been named a 2019 AACR Academy Fellow for her contributions to the understanding of cellular microenvironments, inflammation, and intercellular communications in breast development and carcinogenesis, and for discovering MMP3 and MMP12 and the central processes by which they induce extracellular matrix remodeling and proteolysis.   Read More

As a member of AACI, your advocacy is critical to sharing our message with legislators: that stable, predictable funds are vital to advancing cancer research and care. On Tuesday, April 30, AACI will co-host the 2019 Hill Day with the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR). All faculty and staff of AACI cancer centers are invited to attend and bring patient advocates, whose impactful stories demonstrate the importance of cancer research and care.    Read More

The University of Chicago Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Center The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) has named Susan Cohn, MD, dean for clinical research at the University of Chicago Medicine, as the recipient of the 2019 AACR-Joseph H. Burchenal Memorial Award for her outstanding contributions in international pediatric clinical research. Dr. Cohn is a leading authority on neuroblastoma.   Read More

The 11th Annual AACI Clinical Research Innovation (CRI) Meeting will be held July 9-11, at the Loews Chicago O'Hare Hotel. The theme for this year's meeting is "Strategies to Maximize Innovation to Advance Cancer Clinical Research." This year's keynote features Raquel Forsgren, a Chicago-based resilience coach and yoga therapist, who will focus on strategies for self-preservation, managing stress, and building resiliency.   Read More

On March 27, AACI hosted a Congressional briefing titled "Breaking Down Barriers to a Cure." The briefing highlighted the importance of robust and sustained funding levels for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and provided background on CAR T therapy to members of Congress and their staff members.    Read More

Siteman Cancer Center A combination of two topical creams already shown to clear precancerous skin lesions from sun-damaged skin also lowers the risk that patients will later develop squamous cell carcinoma of the skin. The finding comes from researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Massachusetts General Hospital, and Harvard Medical School.   Read More

Siteman Cancer Center Gerald L. Andriole, MD, the Washington University chief of urologic surgery at Siteman Cancer Center, has been elected to the American College of Surgeons Academy of Master Surgeon Educators. Launched in 2017, the academy recognizes surgeon educators poised to advance the science and practice of surgical education and training.   Read More

Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey Rutgers Cancer Institute has been awarded a $15.1 million grant as part of its successful 2019 redesignation by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) as a comprehensive cancer center, one of only 50 in the nation. The NCI recognized the institute’s value as a collaborative matrix/consortium cancer center between Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, and Princeton University. Steven K. Libutti, MD, FACS is director. Read More

UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center Alan Ashworth, PhD, FRS, president of the Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center and noted cancer biologist, was among three UCSF scientists elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Dr. Ashworth is a translational researcher whose work has focused on understanding breast cancer genetics to improve the treatment and care of patients.   Read More

Stanford Cancer Institute Fewer than a quarter of breast cancer patients and a third of ovarian cancer patients diagnosed between 2013 and 2014 in two states underwent genetic testing for cancer-associated mutations, according to a study by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine and several other organizations. The findings indicate that substantial gaps exist between national guidelines for testing and actual testing practices.    Read More

Ellen and Ronald Caplan Cancer Center of The Wistar Institute After extensive peer review, The Wistar Institute’s Cancer Center has received an “exceptional” rating on its Cancer Center Support Grant (CCSG) application from the National Cancer Institute for the second review cycle in a row and the grant has been recommended for renewal, providing $13.6 million to the cancer center scientific enterprise. Dario C. Altieri, MD, is Wistar president and CEO, and director of the cancer center.…

Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah With a grant from the National Cancer Institute, HCI researcher Charles R. Rogers, PhD, MPH, MS, CHES®, will implement and evaluate culture-specific interventions with a goal of eliminating cancer disparities among African-American men, who are more likely than men of other races to die from colon cancer. Barbershops will be a key recruitment venue for the five-year study.   Read More

Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins University Working with human colon cancer cells and mice, researchers led by experts at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center say they have successfully blocked the activity of portions of a protein known as UHRF1 and restored the function of hundreds of cancer-fighting genes that became “misregulated” by the disease. The investigators say the findings could lead to an entirely new strategy to fight a broad range of cancers.   …

UPMC Hillman Cancer Center New research from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and the UPMC Hillman Cancer Center sheds light on how tumors use the body’s regulators of immunity for their own benefit. “While cancer immunotherapy drugs that block inhibitory cell surface molecules like PD-1 have revolutionized cancer care, only about 20 percent of patients clear their tumors,” said senior author Dario Vignali, PhD. “Our findings uncovered a previously unknown biological mecha…

The University of Chicago Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Center The University of Chicago will lead the NRG Oncology Statistics and Data Management Center, which is receiving six more years of funding from the National Cancer Institute (NCI). NRG Oncology requested $68.9 million in federal funding for their effort. It is the largest of five groups that comprise the NCI National Clinical Trials Network. Each group has a separate and distinct operations center and statistics and data manage…

O'Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Alabama at Birmingham Ravi Bhatia, MD, has been named interim director of the O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Dr. Bhatia was the director of the UAB Division of Hematology and Oncology, and also served as deputy director of the O’Neal Cancer Center. Prior to joining UAB in 2015, Dr. Bhatia was at City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center. Read More

Stephenson Cancer Center, University of Oklahoma The Stephenson Cancer Center at OU Medicine has been awarded a $10.8 million grant from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) to expand its clinical trials program. The co-principal investigators for the grant are Kathleen Moore, MD, and Joan Walker, MD. For the past two years, the Stephenson Cancer Center has ranked first among all cancer centers in the nation for the number of patients participating in clinical trials sponsored through the…

Case Comprehensive Cancer Center The Case Comprehensive Cancer Center (Case CCC) successfully re-competed for its status as a Lead Academic Participating Site for the National Clinical Trials Network (NCTN). Through NCTN, cancer patients have access to National Cancer Institute-funded trials that aim to improve upon current treatments. This new, six-year, $8.9M grant, led by co-PIs Mitchell Machtay, MD, and Aaron Gerds, MD, MS, recognizes the Case CCC and its hospital partners as a scien…

City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center City of Hope recently received $7.5 million in grant awards to study a rare type of blood cancer that affects the skin: cutaneous T cell lymphoma (CTCL). The National Cancer Institute (NCI) awarded two grants valued at $6.3 million over five years to City of Hope’s Steven Rosen, MD, and Christiane Querfeld, MD, PhD, so they can develop improved therapies for CTCL. The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society also gave the pair two individual grants totalin…

Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center Seeking to better understand triple-negative breast cancer's (TNBC) ability to disarm proteins that suppress tumors and mutate them into tumor drivers, a team from Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center found, in collaboration with international researchers, that tamoxifen can turn the ER-beta protein into a double agent capable of disrupting the processes that typically make TNBC tumors so devastating. Read More

Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center A new study by Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center and National Cancer Institute researchers suggests that Oncotype DX-guided treatment could reduce the cost for the first year of breast cancer care in the U.S. by about $50 million (about 2 percent of the overall costs in the first year).    Read More

University of Virginia Cancer Center When NASA astronaut Scott Kelly returned from a yearlong stay on the International Space Station on March 3, 2016, a young physician-scientist, Francine Garrett-Bakelman, MD, PhD, was standing by to receive samples of Kelly’s blood to compare to samples from his twin brother on Earth. Today Dr. Garrett-Bakelman is a cancer doctor and researcher at the UVA Health System. Read More

UPMC Hillman Cancer Center UPMC Hillman Cancer Center is one of just 15 cancer centers nationwide to take part in a groundbreaking collaborative clinical trial for acute myeloid leukemia (AML). The Beat AML Master Clinical Trial, led by the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, will test multiple targeted therapies for patients with AML, one of the most deadly forms of blood cancer and the most commonly diagnosed form of leukemia in adults.    Read More

University of Colorado Cancer Center A study by University of Colorado Cancer Center and Rain Therapeutics, Inc., shows that the clinical-stage drug, tarloxotinib, is active against NRG1-fusion cancers, in addition to the HER2/EGFR cancers for which the drug was originally designed. Though tumors with NRG1 alterations represent only 0.2 percent of all cancers, laboratory results suggest the drug’s action is consistent across cancer sites, representing approximately 3,500 new cases per ye…

UAMS Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute The Addiction Research Training Program at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) was recently awarded $2.1 million from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) to renew the program another five years. The award marks the second time the program has been renewed by NIDA, part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), since it began at UAMS in 2009. The program has received a total of $6 million in NIH funding. The award …

UMMC Cancer Center and Research Institute The University of Mississippi Medical Center’s Cancer Institute is changing its name to the UMMC Cancer Center and Research Institute (CCRI). The CCRI offers adult cancer care through 10 interdisciplinary teams of doctors and conducts basic, translational, and population research through scientists from UMMC, the University of Mississippi, and Mississippi State University. Read More

The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center A study at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center revealed the investigational drug umbralisib as an effective treatment for patients with relapsed marginal zone lymphoma. Findings from the Phase II trial were presented by study co-lead Nathan Fowler, MD.   Read More

Siteman Cancer Center Gregory J. Zipfel, MD, has been named head of the Department of Neurosurgery at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and neurosurgeon-in-chief at Barnes-Jewish Hospital. In both roles he will partner with Siteman Cancer Center. Zipfel succeeds Ralph G. Dacey Jr., MD, who has led the department since 1989. Read More

UMMC Cancer Center and Research Institute Nita Maihle, PhD, has joined the University of Mississippi Medical Center Cancer Institute as associate director for research. She will lead efforts to further develop basic research programs and help coordinate research among the institute’s three National Cancer Institute-targeted research programs.   Read More

The University of Arizona Cancer Center William Cance, MD, deputy director of the University of Arizona Cancer Center (UA) in Phoenix, has been appointed interim director, effective July 1, 2019. Dr. Cance is an oncology surgeon and physician-scientist who joined the UA in 2016. He holds the position of professor in the departments of Interdisciplinary Oncology, Pharmacology & Toxicology, and Surgery for the UA Colleges of Medicine and Pharmacy – Phoenix.    Read More

Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center Indiana University School of Medicine researcher Reuben Kapur, PhD, has received more than $1.8 million from the National Cancer Institute to research the mechanisms that lead to a rare blood cancer called acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Dr. Kapur will closely examine the interaction between certain cellular mutations believed to contribute to the development and relapse of AML.   Read More

Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins University Using human cancer cells, tumor and blood samples from cancer patients, researchers at Johns Hopkins Medicine have uncovered the role of a neurotransmitter in the spread of aggressive cancers. The work found that this neurotransmitter, called N-acetyl-aspartyl-glutamate (NAAG), is more abundant in cancers with a tendency to grow and spread rapidly—or so-called higher grade cancers—than in lower grade tumors, making it …

The University of Kansas Cancer Center Kevin Ault, MD, has been appointed to the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices by Health and Human Services Secretary Alex M. Azar II. This federal committee is part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and formulates vaccine policy for the United States. Dr. Ault will serve a four-year term.   Read More

Fox Chase Cancer Center, Temple Health For more than a decade, Camille Ragin, PhD, MPH, has been working to eliminate cancer disparities among people of African ancestry. The first step is understanding the problem. With support from the National Cancer Institute, Dr. Ragin and colleagues are building a cancer research infrastructure in the Caribbean to prepare the region to reduce its cancer burden.   Read More

University of Florida Health Cancer Center Smoking rates are down nationally, but so are discussions among physicians and smokers about lung cancer screening, University of Florida researchers have found. However, the study also found these patient-physician conversations did not affect current smokers’ intent or attempts to quit.   Read More

University of Colorado Cancer Center A University of Colorado Cancer Center study shows that while estrogen doesn’t directly affect triple-negative breast cancer cells, it can affect surrounding brain cells in ways that promote cancer cell migration and invasiveness. Importantly, the study also suggests ways to stop the activity of estrogen in the brain that fertilizes triple-negative breast cancer metastasis.   Read More

UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center UCLA researchers have developed a new artificial intelligence system to help radiologists improve their ability to diagnose prostate cancer. The system, called FocalNet, helps identify and predict the aggressiveness of the disease evaluating magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI, scans, and it does so with nearly the same level of accuracy as experienced radiologists.    Read More

Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) has honored Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center director Louis M. Weiner, MD, with a 2019 AACR Distinguished Public Service Award. The award recognizes groundbreaking, innovative work throughout the cancer community.   Read More

Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah A study led by researchers at Huntsman Cancer Institute (HCI) at the University of Utah describes a new therapeutic approach with potential for patients with pancreatic cancer. These researchers discovered a combination drug therapy that may effectively combat the disease. HCI researchers first observed anti-cancer impacts in a laboratory setting and, subsequently, in its first use in a human patient.   Read More

Stanford Cancer Institute Immune cells imbued with the power to detect tumors could be a new method of diagnosing cancer, according to a Stanford University School of Medicine study performed in mice. Researchers modified a specific class of immune cells to patrol the body for cancer and signal trouble through blood or urine. Senior author Sanjiv “Sam” Gambhir, MD, PhD, directs the Canary Center at Stanford for Cancer Early Detection.    Read More

Cleveland Clinic Cancer Center A new paper shows for the first time how 5-azacytidine (AZA), a drug commonly prescribed to treat myelodysplastic syndromes and acute myeloid leukemia, causes cancer cell death and identifies several therapeutic targets that may help to amplify the drug’s already powerful disease-fighting effects. Robert Silverman, PhD, led the research team.   Read More

Comprehensive Cancer Center St. Jude Children's Research Hospital The St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital Comprehensive Cancer Center has appointed Charles G. Mullighan, MBBS, MD, deputy director. In this new position, Dr. Mullighan will help guide precision medicine, preclinical and other strategic research initiatives for the center. He joined the St. Jude Department of Pathology faculty in 2008, and serves as co-leader of the cancer center’s Hematological Malignancies Program.   …

Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center Washington Governor Jay Inslee signed the state’s new Tobacco 21 legislation into effect on April 5 in a ceremony at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. Starting January 1, 2020, it will be illegal under Washington law to sell or give tobacco or vaping products to people under age 21. Washington is the tenth U.S. state to raise the age for legal purchase of tobacco and vaping products from age 18 to 21.   Read More

UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center UC San Francisco is collaborating with the nonprofit Lazarex Cancer Foundation on a three-year study to identify ways to improve cancer clinical trial participation among medically underserved populations, including low-income individuals and racial and ethnic minorities. The study aims to increase trial enrollment, access, and minority participation by determining the most significant financial barriers for enrollment and identifying …

Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center Researchers have observed that people with a history of using oral contraceptives are less likely to develop ovarian cancer. A team from Roswell Park and the University at Buffalo, led by Kirsten Moysich, PhD, MS, analyzed those connections more deeply, reporting for the first time that the protective benefit of oral contraceptives is most pronounced with the most aggressive and fatal subtypes of ovarian cancer. Read More

Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey Janice M. Mehnert, MD, director of the Phase I/Investigational Therapeutics Program at Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey, is among the investigators collaborating on research examining the anti-PD-1 therapy drug pembrolizumab in small cell lung cancer. The work was presented at the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting in April.    Read More

Duke Cancer Institute, Duke University Medical Center A multi-institutional group of clinical researchers, led by the Duke Cancer Institute’s Andrew Armstrong, MD, McS, FACP, published a new report that describes results from the PROPHECY study, which prospectively compared two blood tests to assess how well they predicted the effectiveness of hormonal therapy in men with metastatic prostate cancer.   Read More

Fox Chase Cancer Center, Temple Health Christoph Seeger, PhD, is the recipient of the Hepatitis B Foundation’s 2019 Baruch S. Blumberg Prize for excellence in hepatitis B research. Dr. Seeger’s work has focused on the biology of human pathogenic viruses with an emphasis on HBV, and has led to the identification of the signals required for reverse transcription of viral DNA and provided the basis for the current model for HBV replication.   Read More

Ellen and Ronald Caplan Cancer Center of The Wistar Institute Wistar scientists have developed a novel synthetic DNA approach for patient-specific production of cancer-targeting molecules called bispecific T cell engagers. DNA-encoded bispecific T cell engagers designed against the HER2 protein were tested in preclinical models of ovarian cancer and induced tumor regression, demonstrating the potential of this novel approach for immunotherapy.    Read More

Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center Blood clots are the next leading cause of death in cancer patients after cancer itself. Gary Lyman, MD, MPH, is studying how best to prevent blood clots in cancer patients at highest risk. The recently published CASSINI trial tested a new oral blood thinner among high risk cancer patients.    Read More

The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center Researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center have discovered that triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) cells can develop resistance to frontline chemotherapy, not by acquiring permanent adaptations, but by transiently turning on molecular pathways that protect the cells. Helen Piwnica-Worms, PhD, is corresponding author on the study. Read More

The 2019 AACI/CCAF Annual Meeting will be held at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, DC, from October 20-22. Information on the meeting, including the program and electronic registration, is now available on the meeting website. The three-day event will bring together AACI cancer center leadership with top personnel from national cancer research and advocacy organizations, industry, and government health agencies to share common challenges and best practices. Read More

City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center John Rossi, PhD, was given the Outstanding Achievement Award by the American Society of Gene & Cell Therapy (ASGCT) in March. This award recognizes an ASGCT member who “has achieved a pioneering research success, specific high-impact accomplishment, or lifetime of significant contributions to the field of gene and cell therapy.” Dr. Rossi is a pioneer in creating highly structured RNA molecules called aptamers that act like antibodies.   Read More

Conducting multicenter trials is a hot topic in AACI members’ clinical trials offices. During this CRI meeting session, panelists will discuss how to effectively run multicenter trials. In addition, they will present on how to operationalize investigator-initiated trials, manage single and site-specific IRB reviews, and address the challenges of adaptive trial design and drug distribution.   Read More

Duke Cancer Institute, Duke University Medical Center Robin Famiglietti, PhD, MBA, FACHE, has been appointed chief administrator of Duke Cancer Institute and associate vice president of Oncology Services for Duke University Health System. Previously, Dr. Famiglietti served as division administrator for Radiation Oncology at MD Anderson Cancer Center and provided consulting services to the radiation oncology industry.   Read More

AACI invites you to promote your cancer center by purchasing an ad in the 11th Annual AACI CRI Meeting event program. The program offers an excellent opportunity to showcase your center while supporting the CRI meeting. Your cancer center’s program ad may highlight a conference or a new initiative, or celebrate the success of the center’s clinical trials office.    Read More

Siteman Cancer Center Ryan C. Fields, MD, has been named chief of the Section of Surgical Oncology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Dr. Fields, who treats patients at Siteman Cancer Center, also is associate program director of the General Surgery Residency Program and director of resident research in the Department of Surgery at the School of Medicine. Read More

On Tuesday, April 30, AACI co-hosted the 2019 Hill Day with the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR). Ninety-one cancer center directors, researchers, oncologists, survivors, and other advocates, representing 37 cancer centers and 24 states, attended meetings with legislators and staff on Capitol Hill. The group gathered to present a unified voice in support of stable funding increases for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Cancer Institute (NCI). Read More

The University of Kansas Cancer Center Anwaar Saeed, MD, has been accepted into the Academic GI Cancer Consortium, which brings together institutions and investigators to design and rapidly complete clinical trials in GI cancers. Dr. Saeed’s clinical research is focused on developmental therapeutics and immune modulatory approaches in patients with advanced gastrcic, esophageal, and colon cancers. Read More

University of Florida Health Cancer Center The National Cancer Institute has awarded a five-year, $16 million grant to establish a cancer health equity center at the University of Florida and partner institutions. The Florida-California Cancer Research, Education, and Engagement, or CaRE2, Health Equity Center will be an interdisciplinary, intercollegiate effort involving researchers from UF, Florida A&M University, and the University of Southern California.   Read More

UK Markey Cancer Center With $15 million from the National Cancer Institute and the National Institute on Drug Abuse and a donation of 900 doses of a 12-week treatment from Gilead Sciences Inc., Jennifer Havens, PhD, has the goal of eradicating hepatitis C virus in Perry County.    Read More

The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center - James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute A major public health initiative aimed at preventing cervical cancer in at-risk Appalachian families from Ohio, Kentucky, Virginia, and West Virginia is underway with support from an $11 million National Cancer Institute grant to OSUCCC – James. Read More

University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center New findings suggest an unexpected path to killing cancer cells could make immunotherapy more effective. Researchers at the University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center found that a little-understood type of cell death called ferroptosis occurs in tumor cells and plays a role in cancer immunity, suggesting the potential of targeting this pathway to improve immunotherapy treatments. Weiping Zou, MD, PhD, is senior study author.   Read More

UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center Reducing smoking, and its associated health effects, among Medicaid recipients in each state by just 1 percent would result in $2.6 billion in total Medicaid savings the following year, according to new research by UC San Francisco. The median state would save $25 million, ranging from $630.2 million in California to $2.5 million in South Dakota.   Read More

University of New Mexico Comprehensive Cancer Center UNM Comprehensive Cancer Center molecular medicine scientist Hua-Ying Fan, PhD, studies the cells of people with Cockayne syndrome, who don’t live long enough to develop cancer. By studying their cells, Dr. Fan and her research team discovered the importance of a protein called CSB, which works with another protein called PARP1 to repair damaged DNA and could have implications for improving the potency of cancer drugs.   Read M…

Ellen and Ronald Caplan Cancer Center of The Wistar Institute Researchers at The Wistar Institute and the University of South Florida have advanced a novel compound that specifically targets the endoplasmic reticulum stress response that is frequently hyperactivated in cancer and promotes survival of cancer cells during stressful conditions. The new compound has unique chemical properties that allow for precise activation and can be used for tracking its activity in vivo thanks to the em…

Duke Cancer Institute, Duke University Medical Center Therese Hennig, MPAS, PA-C, advanced practice leader for the division of Hematologic Malignancies and Cellular Therapy, has been named director of Oncology Advanced Practice for Duke Cancer Institute. Hennig has been recognized for her clinical expertise and leadership and has been instrumental in the design of provider practice models within the division.   Read More

VCU Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center VCU Massey Cancer Center researcher Melanie Bean, PhD, LCP, was awarded over $5 million in grant funding by the National Institutes of Health to study factors that may impact pediatric obesity and cancer-related co-morbidities among traditionally underserved populations.   Read More

City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center City of Hope Provost and Chief Scientific Officer Steven T. Rosen, MD, has been inducted as a member of the Association of American Physicians (AAP). Dr. Rosen is a leader in the field of hematologic malignancies and has spent more than three decades improving treatment in myeloma, leukemia, and lymphoma.    Read More

Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins University Researchers at the Johns Hopkins University and other institutions report that a new laboratory test that induces cancer cells to squeeze through narrow spaces has the potential to accurately predict which breast cancers and other solid tumors are likely to spread, or metastasize, to other sites. The team received a U.S. patent on the test, called Microfluidic Assay for quantification of Cell Invasion (MAqCI), which us…

UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center Christopher Saigal, MD, professor of urology in the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, has been elected to the American Association of Genitourinary Surgeons in recognition of his accomplishments in the field. Dr. Saigal’s research in the field of shared decision making for prostate cancer focuses on empowering men to make informed treatment choices with which they're more satisfied.   Read More

Siteman Cancer Center Two physician-scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and Siteman Cancer Center were elected to the National Academy of Sciences, one of the highest honors that can be awarded to a U.S. scientist or engineer. Marco Colonna, MD, and Timothy J. Ley, MD, were among the 100 new members and 25 foreign associates elected to the academy this year.   Read More

Siteman Cancer Center Julie Margenthaler, MD, a Washington University professor of surgery at Siteman Cancer Center, has been named president-elect of The American Society of Breast Surgeons. She will serve in the role until 2020, when she becomes president of the organization. Dr. Margenthaler has served as treasurer since 2017.   Read More

University of Virginia Cancer Center Researchers at the University of Virginia School of Medicine have shed light on how cancers hijack the body’s natural wound-healing response to grow and spread. The researchers have identified specific processes within endothelial cells—the cells that line blood vessels—that tumors use to build out their own blood supply.    Read More

Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson Health How can breast cancer cells from a primary tumor reach the bones when a patient is deemed "cancer free" after treatment? What allows cancer cells to remain "sleeping" in bones for up to 30 years? In a step toward answering these questions, Jefferson researcher Karen Bussard, PhD, discovered a type of bone cell that can slow the growth of cancer cells, even in triple-negative breast cancer.   Read More

Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center faculty researcher Rodney Haring, PhD, MSW, has been recognized with a Research Into Action Award from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s New Connections initiative. The award symbolizes what Dr. Haring has accomplished as a New Connections grantee, including a project in 2010 that looked at childhood obesity and oral health within Native American communities.   Read More

The University of Kansas Cancer Center The University of Kansas Cancer Center’s Clinical Health Psychology fellowship program, which focuses on onco-psychology, has earned national accreditation by the American Psychological Association (APA). It is one of only 10 APA-accredited clinical health psychology fellowship programs in the U.S., and one of only two accredited programs with a sub-specialty emphasis in psychological care for cancer patients. Meagan Dwyer, PhD, and her colleagues d…

USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center has launched a study to determine how financial assistance for costs associated with clinical trial participation might increase enrollment, particularly among low-income patients and racial and ethnic minorities. Darcy Spicer, MD, is principal investigator on the study, known as Improving Patient Access to Cancer Clinical Trials (IMPACT). Read More

The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center - James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute Partial breast irradiation produces similar long-term survival rates and risk for recurrence compared with whole breast irradiation for many women with low-risk, early stage breast cancer, according to new clinical data from a national clinical trial involving researchers from The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center, James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute…

Ellen and Ronald Caplan Cancer Center of The Wistar Institute New research from The Wistar Institute sheds light on the function of the ARID1A protein, encoded by a gene that is among the most frequently mutated across human cancers. According to the study, ARID1A plays a role in the spatial organization of the genome; therefore, its loss has broad effects on global gene expression. Rugang Zhang, PhD, is the study's principal investigator.   Read More

Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University An overactive protein complex that helps drive the development of leukemia may explain why many therapies for the cancer have proven ineffective, according to a new Northwestern Medicine study. Leonidas Platanias, MD, PhD, director of the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University, is senior author of the study.   Read More

Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center Elizabeth Bouchard, PhD, has been promoted to associate director for community outreach and engagement at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center. In this new role, she will facilitate meaningful connections with area residents and partner organizations. Dr. Bouchard will work with other Roswell Park researchers and outreach specialists to take a deep dive into cancer issues that are important to Western New Yorkers.    Read More

Yale Cancer Center, Yale School of Medicine Katerina Politi, PhD, and Don Nguyen, PhD, members of the Signal Transduction Research Program at Yale Cancer Center, have received a five-year, nearly $4 million National Cancer Institute (NCI) grant to support lung cancer research. The award is to help study the relationship between drug resistance and metastasis as part of the NCI's Patient-Derived Models Consortium.   Read More

Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins University Checkpoint inhibitor drugs that stimulate the immune system have become a growing success story in the treatment of some cancers. But about half of patients whose tumors are marked by a large number of mutations from so-called mismatch repair genetic deficiency fail to respond to the drugs. Now, researchers from the Johns Hopkins Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, its Bloomberg~Kimmel Institute for Cancer Immno…

Stanford Cancer Institute Synthetic proteins engineered to recognize overly active biological pathways can kill cancer cells while sparing their healthy peers, according to a study by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine. Michael Lin, MD, PhD, is senior author.   Read More

University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center Researchers at the University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center have developed a new method for lifting the genetic "fingerprints" of tiny fragments of RNA found in blood plasma that are invisible to traditional methods of RNA sequencing. Muneesh Tewari, MD, PhD, is senior author of the study.   Read More

The University of Kansas Cancer Center Since the term "metastasis" was coined nearly 200 years ago, thousands of scientific papers have been published on the subject. A comprehensive literature review, authored by Danny Welch, PhD, seeks to summarize the metastatic research landscape and identify the distinguishing features of metastasis.   Read More

UPMC Hillman Cancer Center A new study from the UPMC Hillman Cancer Center provides the first evidence that oxidative stress acts directly on telomeres to speed up cellular aging. The key was a new method, developed by neighboring Carnegie Mellon University, that zeroes in on the telomeres and delivers localized free radicals—the molecular agent of oxidative stress—on command. When researchers used this tool on cultured cancer cells, they saw the telomeres break and shorten with each cel…

The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center has named David Jaffray, PhD, as its first chief technology and digital officer. Jaffray will oversee MD Anderson’s information services division and information security department. He will also hold a faculty appointment as professor of radiation physics with a joint appointment in imaging physics.   Read More

WVU Cancer Institute The WVU Cancer Institute welcomes Mike Ridinger, RN, MBA, as assistant director of finance and administration and the administrator of Hematology/Oncology. Ridinger has more than 15 years of experience with health and medical systems. His background includes understanding and utilizing economic, financial, market, and industry segment data to identify key issues and implications for potential strategies and plans.   Read More

Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah Poor air quality days significantly increase the risk of hospitalizations for respiratory issues in young survivors of cancer, according to a study conducted by researchers at Huntsman Cancer Institute (HCI) at the University of Utah. Judy Ou, PhD, a cancer epidemiologist at HCI, is lead author on the study.   Read More

Fox Chase Cancer Center, Temple Health Michael Hall, MD, MS, has been named chair of the Department of Clinical Genetics at Fox Chase Cancer Center. An associate professor in the department, Dr. Hall will continue to serve in his other roles at Fox Chase, including director of Gastrointestinal Risk Assessment; and NCCN, Genetic Colorectal/Colorectal Cancer Screening Panel member.   Read More

The Jon M. and Karen Huntsman family will receive AACI's 2019 Champion for Cures Award, in recognition of their significant leadership in supporting efforts to cure cancer and in inspiring others to do the same. The Huntsman family’s first major gift to cancer research came in 1993 at $10 million, followed by a $100 million gift in 1995 that formally established and named the Huntsman Cancer Institute (HCI) at the University of Utah. In all, the family has donated or inspired donations totaling…

UMMC Cancer Center and Research Institute The ability to daily monitor a bone marrow or stem cell transplant patient once they’re home is paying dividends, say members of the University of Mississippi Medical Center Bone Marrow Transplant unit. The unit is using remote patient monitoring tools developed by the UMMC Telehealth Center that were adjusted to monitor transplant patients after they leave the hospital.   Read More

University of New Mexico Comprehensive Cancer Center A new initiative at the UNM Comprehensive Cancer Center will offer cancer patients the tools they need to quit smoking. Led by Emrullah Yilmaz, MD, PhD, Linda Cook, PhD, and Antoinette Quintana, the UNM Cancer Center Smoking Cessation Program is part of the NCI’s Cancer Center Cessation Initiative (C3I). It has started with patients who have head and neck cancers and will expand over the next two years to include all patients.   …

UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center A team of researchers from UCLA’s Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, Cedars-Sinai Cancer, and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute has identified 34 genes that are associated with an increased risk for developing the earliest stages of ovarian cancer. The findings will both help identify women who are at highest risk of developing ovarian cancer and pave the way for identifying new therapies that can target these specific genes.   Read More

Duke Cancer Institute, Duke University Medical Center The National Cancer Institute (NCI) awarded $2.1 million to Duke Cancer Institute researchers to study plasmonic nanoparticle-mediated immunotherapy to treat metastatic bladder cancer. Co-principal investigators, Brant Inman, MD, MS, and Tuan Vo-Dinh, PhD, developed a two-pronged treatment approach utilizing nanotherapy and immunotherapy, a treatment they refer to as Synergistic Immuno Photothermal Nanotherapy (SYMPHONY), to enhance t…

Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah Huntsman Cancer Institute CEO, Mary Beckerle, PhD, and HCI’s Senior Director of Pre-Clinical Translation, Martin McMahon, PhD, have been appointed to prominent advisory group positions within the National Institutes of Health.   Read More